In April 2017 Nazarbayev ordered the country to start switching to the Latin alphabet, to be finished by 2025. Kazakhstan was forced by the Soviets to replace abandon the Arabic alphabet in favor of the Latin alphabet in 1929, and was forced to switch (again), this time to Cyrillic in 1940.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakh-president-orders-shift-from-cyrillic/28425590.html|title=Kazakh President Orders Shift Away From Cyrillic Alphabet|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|access-date=2017-07-12}}</ref> | In April 2017 Nazarbayev ordered the country to start switching to the Latin alphabet, to be finished by 2025. Kazakhstan was forced by the Soviets to replace abandon the Arabic alphabet in favor of the Latin alphabet in 1929, and was forced to switch (again), this time to Cyrillic in 1940.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakh-president-orders-shift-from-cyrillic/28425590.html|title=Kazakh President Orders Shift Away From Cyrillic Alphabet|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|access-date=2017-07-12}}</ref> |